Fire Brigade – Steam Engine

In 1887 a Fire Engine Fund was set up in reaction to a spate of field fires. This photo is of Henry Kings’ steam fire engine in 1904, the first fire engine with a crew of unpaid volunteers, pulled manually and kept primarily at the Mill. Colonel Stanley was 1st Officer and the crew consisted of three men of the King family and other well known village names, Pilgrim, Burleigh, Barrett etc. It was the first engine to arrive at the fire in Little Chesterford in 1914. A drawing of this engine can be seen on the frontispiece of IR5 A Village on Fire by Ken Kilford, available for purchase from the Society.